Amagi Brilliant Park: Volume 3 (Premium)

by Shouji Gatou

  “You’re kidding, ron! We were gonna take you somewhere even better, ron!”

  “The night is still young, mii! ...Urp. Blurrrrrrgh...” Tiramii-san puked behind a telephone pole. He was the worst. Macaron-san put an arm around my shoulders, as if getting ready to lead me somewhere.

  “But, but... ah, Moffle-san?” I looked to Moffle-san for help. He might have been scary, but he also seemed like the most sensible member of the group. As my direct superior at work, he’d probably let me escape.

  “Moffu... Burp.” His eyes were glazed over, and he was drinking right from a bottle of Japanese sake that he held in his right hand.

  “M-Moffle-san?” I tried again.

  “Ah, c’mon,” he finally answered.

  “Huh?”

  “I said c’mon, fumo. C’mon. Come on.”

  “Ah... um, um...” I fumbled, trying to come up with an excuse.

  “Just come on. Don’t worry so much. It’ll be educational, fumo!”

  “No!!!” And so I was dragged out into the city at night.

  Two hours later...

  “I’m so, so, so sorry,” Moffle-san, Tiramii-san, and Macaron-san chorused together. We were standing in the parking lot of a girlie bar. I was on the verge of tears, while Moffle-san and the others prostrated themselves before me.

  I’d sent an SOS to Isuzu-senpai via email, and she’d come running right away. The three mascots had been flirting excitedly with the girls in the club when she arrived, put a bullet into each of them, and then dragged us all outside. Once there, she pointed the gun at them again and commanded them to get down on their hands and knees and apologize.

  Three mascots on all fours in a grimy parking lot at night... It was a nightmare. It was a sight I hoped no child ever had to see. I didn’t want to see it either!

  “I know we live in an age where power harassment is commonplace...” Isuzu scolded them. “But how could you bring an underage girl into a place like that?” There was quiet malice in Isuzu-senpai’s voice. She really was terrifying.

  “But... but we weren’t going to let her drink, mii!”

  “Yeah, yeah. We were being really careful about that, ron.”

  Macaron-san and Tiramii-san both defended themselves. In fact, I’d gotten a lot of “Want some, ron? C’mon, try it!” peer pressure, but I decided not to mention that.

  “...That’s not the problem and you know it. Now, Moffle-kyo, how could you let this happen? This is hardly standard behavior from you.

  “Moffu... Hmm, I’m sorry, fumo. I had a little too much to drink, I think...” Moffle-san looked uncomfortable, too. He was talking like he had something stuck in his back teeth (even though I don’t actually know if he had back teeth).

  “Well, we’re sorry about this, newbie. You can go on home... Er... has the last train run?”

  “Of course it has,” Isuzu-senpai said. “It’s 1:00 in the morning.”

  “...Ah, true, fumo. Then get yourself a taxi, all right? Will this be enough to cover it, fumo?” He produced a wallet from somewhere or other and pressed a few 1,000 yen bills into my hand.

  “Ah, um, I’ve never been in a taxi before...” While I panicked, Isuzu-senpai returned the bills to him.

  “It’s close enough to walk,” she said. “I’ll get her home.”

  “I... I see, fumo. Well, then... erm, take care, fumo.” Moffle-san must have still been pretty drunk, because he limped away on unsteady legs. Tiramii-san, who seemed equally unsteady, lent him his shoulder, and they started heading out of the parking lot.

  “We have practice for the live show tomorrow,” Isuzu-senpai reminded them. “Will you be able to make it?”

  “Yeah, yeah... I’m fine... I’m fine, fumo.”

  “Mii... I want some ramen, mii... Something with really rich pork broth...”

  “Better not, ron. I’d just barf it up... urp.”

  And so the three of them left. For some reason, I wasn’t mad. As I watched them walk away, I just felt pity, for reasons I couldn’t describe.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Isuzu-senpai said. “Were you frightened?”

  “No. Well...” Since I had emailed her asking for help, I couldn’t really say anything else. I had been scared and bothered, for sure. But looking back now—

  No, I shouldn’t go there.

  At any rate, I decided to keep up with my job a little longer. One thing had changed, though: Isuzu-senpai had arranged a transfer for me. I was moved from Moffle-san’s House of Sweets to Macaron-san’s Music Theater; Adachi Eiko-san went to the House of Sweets in my place.

  “You and Moffle don’t seem very compatible,” was Isuzu-senpai’s reasoning.

  I knew she was making a fuss over me, but I couldn’t tell her not to. And it was true that I was relieved to be away from Moffle-san...

  My new superior, Macaron-san, was a pretty laid-back guy, and working for him wasn’t as grueling as working for Moffle-san was. He seemed to have realized that I got stage fright, so he just decided not to put me onstage. If it was just a lot of backstage work, I could keep up, more or less.

  I ran into Moffle-san backstage fairly often while I was working. He’d ask, “How are you doing, fumo?”

  I’d say, “Oh, um, I’m learning, I think.”

  Moffle-san would mutter an indifferent “I see,” and then go about his business. It seemed like there was something lonely in the way he walked away... Or was it just my imagination?

  Incidentally, Kanie-senpai still didn’t seem to care about me at all. We occasionally passed each other backstage, but even if I said hello, he’d just say “hey,” and no more. Well... that was understandable. He seemed to be in a constant state of busyness, pretty much. He was taking a lot of time off from school, too.

  At work, they were doing renovations on the attractions. I don’t know where they’d come from, but all of a sudden we had a whole bunch of mole-like mascots (apparently called the Mogute Clan), who finished the remodels in just a few days. So surprising! Could this be magic? (Well actually, I’d heard they’d had to pay for it...)

  With all that going on, a week ended up passing; after all that stressing I’d done over quitting, I couldn’t believe I’d made it this long.

  But things at school were back to the way they’d been before. I still couldn’t say hello to people, and I still mumbled when my gym teacher singled me out. My other conversations went more or less the same way—I guess it goes to show that it’s not that easy for a person to change.

  My passion, or I guess the novelty of the job, was fading, too. Why had I chosen to work at this park in the first place? It was supposed to be about changing myself, but I hadn’t changed at all.

  At school, Isuzu-senpai sometimes said hi to me, but other than that I barely talked to anyone. After school, I went straight to the park and did nothing but clean stuff, carry stuff, and run checks on the warehouses of merchandise.

  Onstage, everything was business as usual, but backstage we were running all over the place with preparations for Golden Week. The cast was exhausted from all the renovations and daily rehearsals. Even after closing time, they stayed until after midnight hauling in equipment, doing stage tests, and all those sorts of things.

  Isuzu-senpai must have been very busy too, because she was also absent from school a lot. On the off-chance that I did happen to see her in school, most of the time, she was napping.

  Since I was in a department not connected to the parade or the show though, most of what I did every day was drudge work. I was starting to think those first two days I spent suffering in front of the guests were more fulfilling.

  May was almost here. On the last Saturday of April, I commuted to work in the morning. I decided I would finally tell them I was quitting, but only after a good, full day of work. I had emailed Isuzu-senpai, too: “I need to talk to you after work today.”

  The first day of Golden Week came near the end of April. Everyone was super busy starting from that morning. ...Actually, they
’d been running all over the place since the night before, preparing for the Golden Week event. A lot of attractions would be holding grand re-openings too, and apparently, they’d built a huge ad campaign around that. TV stations would be coming to report on the shows in the afternoon.

  But even though things were so busy, right before the park opened, there was an announcement calling for all the cast to meet in front of Maple Castle. Maple Castle was a large building that stood across from the gate, past Entrance Square. It wasn’t a charming, pretty castle; it was an honest-to-goodness fortress that looked like it would give pause to even Napoleon’s Grande Armée.

  A crowd of cast members was gathered in front of it; there were hundreds of them. Some were part-time workers like me, while others wore fancy costumes, and still others were mascots.

  There was a brief squeal of feedback before a voice came out over the speakers. “Okay, is everybody here?! We’re short on time, so I’ll keep it brief!”

  And who did I see there, speaking on the stage with microphone in hand, but Kanie-senpai? He was wearing a striking, tailored uniform with gold trim. Even from where I was standing, I could see his red arm band that read “Acting Manager.” Acting manager? Kanie-senpai? He wasn’t just the leader of the part-time staff?!

  “Ahem!” he began. “Today is the first day of Golden Week, and I don’t think I need to explain to you how important it is! It’s no exaggeration to say that the job we do in the week to come will determine our park’s fate a year from now! We’ve made a lot of preparations! We’ve put advertisements in newspapers! We’ve run renovations! But in the end, it all still comes down to our cast’s hard work! Got it?! This whole thing is riding on you!”

  Some were only half-listening, but the majority of the cast had their eyes fixed on Kanie-senpai. The mascots in particular—as residents of “magical realms,” I guess—seemed to take in his words with great seriousness.

  “I want to see what all those rehearsals have gotten us!” he barked, sounding like the general of an army. “Don’t make mistakes! Perform with sincerity! If you’re pros, you can do this! Anyone who can’t, can get out of here now! This park doesn’t need you!” He was such a slender, pretty man, but for some reason he had a strangely commanding aura; it was awe-inspiring. Even I found myself unconsciously standing at attention.

  “But there’s one more factor that’s even more important! This, above all, you must not forget! You hear me? It’s—” While everyone waited with bated breath, he threw a small pause into his speech. Then with a composed expression, he said this: “Above all, have fun.”

  The moment he said that, a strange mood fell over the crowd. It was a mood of disarmament, of comprehension, of warmth. They all seemed to be thinking, “Yes, of course.” Someone close to me let out a giggle.

  “That’s right,” Kanie-senpai concluded. “...Now, let’s have a fun day at work! Everyone, to your stations!!”

  The crowd let out a cheer and dispersed, clapping and whistling. They all seemed raring to go.

  “...He’s a damned fine performer, ron,” Macaron-san said from close by. “Kanie-kun is probably the most panicked of us all, but he gives us one little speech and suddenly we’re cock-eyed optimists, ron.”

  “Um, um... just who is Kanie-senpai?” I asked.

  “He’s the park’s savior, ron.”

  Macaron-san explained everything on the way to the Music Theater. He explained how the park was really supposed to have closed in March; about how they had called Kanie-senpai here based on “the revelation” and given him management of the park; about how he’d made a miracle happen that had let the park stay in business.

  “We all tease him and treat him like a nuisance,” Macaron-san concluded. “But the fact is, we trust him, ron. The kid’s got something special.”

  It was all so hard to accept. That Kanie-senpai, the same person who ate lunch by himself in a corner of the school building every day, could be doing such amazing things here at this park.

  Compared to him, I... No, it was silly to compare myself to him. He might be a nasty person, but he was born with things I wasn’t. He could probably do anything he put his mind to. Meanwhile, I had nothing.

  While everyone else was raring to go, I was feeling small and pathetic.

  It was partly because the weather was good, I guess, but tons of people were coming to the park. I was back to my work backstage. After the park opened its doors, I worked for a while at Macaron-san’s Music Theater (well, underneath it), but then I was ordered to go to the big stage and help out there.

  “Um, um... the big... the big stage?” I questioned.

  “The one where Kanie-san gave his speech this morning,” the female cast member who’d told me said; she was a Fairy of Water, known as Muse. She wore a revealing outfit, but she was a very nice lady. “They just don’t have enough hands on deck. The girls need help changing, they need people carrying equipment, helping with the wiring and, um... anyway, just head over! I need to get ready for the show!” She must have been running around backstage, looking for any cast members who could be spared. Once she passed on the request, she ran right off.

  I told the one cast member left at the Music Theater (a member of the Mogute Clan) that I was leaving my station, and he just responded, “Sure thing, mog,” so I hurried to the big stage.

  I remembered now. The big stage was where the special live show “A (AmaBri) Fight Begins! The Moffle that Fell to Earth!” was going to take place. This show was to be the biggest spectacle of the Golden Week opening. This was how it was described in the pamphlet:

  “The first phase of our major renovations!

  “A black cloud has fallen on the peaceful Sorcerer’s Hill. Oh no! We’re losing dream energy! Will the magical fairies be able to save the children’s dreams?! Moffle, Macaron, Tiramii, and all their park friends are going to fight to set things right! Come watch this singing, dancing picture book brought to you with the latest special effects!

  “(May be canceled in case of inclement weather. We appreciate your understanding.)”

  ...I won’t comment on the idea of that trio of lushes “saving children’s dreams,” of course. It’s just fiction, after all.

  As I arrived under the big stage, which was bustling with preparations, I happened to run into Macaron-san coming out of one of the greenrooms. For some reason, he was wearing a plaid miniskirt underneath a dark blue jacket. Was he playing a high school girl in the musical? Even if he was a sheep, that was still kind of weird.

  My thoughts must have been showing on my face, because Macaron-san got indignant. “Why are you looking at me that way? This is my Scotland costume! It’s not women’s clothing, ron!”

  Ah, of course. Now that he mentioned it, he was carrying bagpipes, too. It was easy to forget that he was the Fairy of Music.

  “Anyway, what are you doing here, ron?” Macaron-san asked. “I thought you were stationed at the Music Theater.”

  “Oh, um... Muse-san asked me to come help...” I told him.

  “Ah, okay! Go see Dornell, then,” he ordered.

  “Dornell?” I asked. It sounded like the name of a massive mobile weapon, the kind that fired big fat beams.

  “He’s the show’s director. You’ll find him in the master control room. Hurry, hurry! Less than thirty minutes to showtime, ron!”

  I did as I was told and headed to the master control room. It was crammed and cluttered with monitors, consoles, PCs and audio equipment. A weasel-like fairy and a few members of the Mogute Clan were shouting at each other:

  “How are those speaker tests in the southern area coming?! You need to hurry, mog!”

  “There’s a problem in the fifth elevator! Send a repair crew, stat!”

  “Main cannon, mega-particle cannon! Target that Musai on the left wing!”

  Okay, I might have mixed in a comment unrelated to the musical there... but the point is, they were busy.

  “Um, um, I came to help...” As I spoke up,
the weasel fairy turned around. He was wearing an armband that read DIRECTOR. He must be Dornell-san, then.

  “Okay, well, carry that cardboard box to the special greenroom, nell. You’ll find it on... um, here,” he told me, “take a map!”

  “U-Um...”

  I was just standing there, fidgeting, when someone entered the room behind me; it was Kanie-senpai. He completely ignored me to address the director, Dornell. “How are things going?”

  “Oh, hey Boss. Time’s gonna be tight, but I think we’ll make it, nell. Wanna watch from here?”

  “Sure,” Kanie-senpai responded. “I can watch from the spectator seats if I’m in the way, of course...”

  “No sweat off my brow, nell. You choreographed the whole thing, after all. ...Hey, you! Why are you just standing there? Hurry up!” Dornell-san said, laying into me for sticking around to listen to their conversation.

  “S-Sorry!” I grabbed the large cardboard box and a copy of the map, and flew out of the room.

  Kanie-senpai just said “oh?” as if he’d only now realized I was there.

  I raced around, using the crummy map to help me find my way. It seemed the area’s underground passages had been renovated and expanded recently, and they didn’t have official maps made yet. What could this “special greenroom” be, I wondered. It seemed to be rather far down, but...

  Fortunately, I found a helpful sign on the walls (it read “Special greenroom this way, mog →”) and I arrived at my destination soon enough. I opened the metal door that read “Special Greenroom” and walked inside to find a large hall.

  At the center of the hall was a dragon.

  Yes, a dragon. A real dragon, with amazing fangs and terrible claws. It could probably slice a truck in two with those, I thought.

  There were four or five cast members hard at work around the dragon: polishing his scales, using large brushes to apply some kind of fluorescent material, etc. It was makeup. They were putting makeup on the dragon.